Rustic Spring Decorating Ideas
Spring Home Refresh with Elements of Nature
Spring is almost here, and as the colors outside begin to change from cool tones and shades of gray, transitioning to sunny blooms and vibrant shades of green, our interiors can also use an uplifting Spring home refresh to reflect the season.
In this post, I thought I’d cover the current design trend of using nature as an inspiration in design, which goes hand in hand with introducing a new color palette with fresh flowers, plants, and organic accessories.
Everything now is about incorporating raw textures and natural artisanal elements with a healthy dose of color rather than the shiny and refined look of the past.
The vibe is more organic – think of raw wood, natural textures such as linen, and indoor gardens which have become popular in contemporary architecture. Expect to see all shades of green in lively, organic, and rich shades used in small doses and in larger upholstered pieces. Feature images courtesy of Country Living
Post Updated: March 06, 2021
Rustic Spring Decorating Trend 1: Terrariums
It’s possible to cultivate something green and beautiful simply by placing plants that share similar light and watering needs in a glass terrarium that is wide enough to put your hand in. Terrariums are taking center stage now with many styles and variations that allow for personal creativity. They are also an easy way to bring the outside indoors, any time of the year.
Refinery 29 and Sprout Home collaborated to create a fabulous article on how to create a stunning terrarium with step-by-step images on the process. Whether you choose woodsy and tropical plants or a desert cactus, maintenance is a must. “Both require different care, lighting, and water,” says Sprout Home expert Sarah Trover.
Must Have Components for a Successful Terrarium
Lava Rock: Acts as drainage system and gives the water that you give your plants a place to go, so your roots can still have access to it without sitting around them, causing rot.
Charcoal: Acts as a water filter to keep your roots clean and your plants happy.
Potting Soil: Tropical plants require a typical potting soil, while a succulent or cactus terrarium needs something special.
Steps to Create a Unique Terrarium
Step 1: Start by adding a layer of Lava rock at the bottom of your container.
Step 2: Next add a layer of charcoal
Step 3: Consider using layers of colored sand. “Sand and rock create interest in the bottom of the container to attract the eye and [allows you to] color coordinate with your decorating scheme or trends.”
Step 4: Add a layer of potting soil
Step 5: Start adding your plants and live moss
Step 6: Work in groups of three or five plants. “The odd number looks great in containers, and the live moss helps fill things out to feel like the forest floor without…making things overly claustrophobic,” says Trover.
If you are planning on designing a DIY Terrarium, Terrain has an extensive selection of containers as well as preserved and dried Spanish moss, potting stones, garden gear, plants and flowers.
Photo courtesy of: Southern Living. Photography: Robbie Caponetto
Rustic Spring Decorating Trend 2: Organic Elements
Bringing natural elements into your home can give a living space a breath of fresh air while providing a connection to the outdoors. Choose materials that resonate with your style. Nature is the perfect inspiration for art and interior design, and incorporating natural materials such as wood, stone, and plants, can provide harmony between humankind and nature.
“With the re-emergence of green living and conserving the Earth’s precious resources, there has been a renewed interest in homeowners finding building products that have been recycled and used in new ways, reclaimed from other building projects or re-purposed into new functions.” ~ Fresh Home
Sometimes the simplest things can be the most beautiful, such as displaying feathers you find on a walk in an earthenware mug or filling bottles and jars with stones or twigs. A discarded bird’s nest can be a creative vessel for small plants.
Textiles featuring birds, branches, or foliage is another way to wake up a room for spring and is a cost-efficient way to add color to a room. Tree stumps are also a great way to bring the outdoors in, and they work well as accent tables. Forest-theme dinnerware is available in a variety of sizes and makes a unique gallery wall. You can easily switch the collection with each change of season.
Another way to create an artisanal finish is to add ceramics in collections of vases or pots, rustic light fixtures, and organic wall art. I am in the process of doing this in my own home. I recently purchased three large matte frames and intend to create a horizontal gallery presentation of black and white images of nature scenes I took while hiking in various locations. I made sure to capture dramatic and rugged terrain such as large boulders and cactus.
Photo courtesy of: Sanctuary Home Decor
Seagrass Chairs
The Armonk Chandelier’s bold curves and dark bronze tones create a warm, dramatic focal point over a dining table or seating area.
Cliff Seeded Glass Cluster Pendant
A gently mottled texture and a subtle green hue characterize each shade of the pendant, generously sized and ideal for high ceilings. Each shade is created of molded mouth-blown glass in an eclectic shape and affixed to the wrought-iron frame.
Found Oversized Wine Bottle
Glass bottles like these, called demijohns, were originally used for storing wine in the villages of Transdanubia, a wine-harvesting region of Hungary. During the early 20th century, they were often wrapped with willow branches for durability and easy transport over long distances.
A bright and sunny French Country Kitchen with spring florals and rustic stonewear.
Succulent Wall
Gardening made easy. Go vertical with a wall of faux succulents that are maintenance-free and look just like the real thing.
Wood Vases
Carved by hand from paulownia, a fast-growing hardwood, these vases bring a natural tone to your home decor. From the tabletop versions to the statement floor vases, each will vary slightly in grain and shape. The taller vases feature a small interior cavity to make floral arranging easy.
Root Round Wall Mirror
Dramatically scaled driftwood cross-section reflects on nature’s infinite beauty in fantastic whorls and intriguing gnarls that encircle a 16″-diameter round beveled mirror. Contemporary and organic, this eye-catching mirror makes a striking focal point to any room. Each naturally occurring piece of wood is unique, varying in size, shape and pattern.
Rustic Spring Decorating Trend 3: Textural Elements
Both organic and textural elements as well as using a variety of surfaces and layering is key for adding dimension and interest to a room. For a cozy feel, add plush fabrics, woven surfaces, and wood. You can draw inspiration from nature by using stones, feathers, shells, and branches as decorative objects. Texture incorporated with the addition of rugs, textiles, architectural elements, plants, and even books.
Wicker is another great way to add texture to a space as this versatile weave is reminiscent of tree bark. It makes a lovely addition in any room, especially when wrapped around a vase and filled with fresh greens.
When adding texture, it’s important to create a balance – as with anything in design, there can be too much of a good thing.
Photograph courtesy of: Michael Partenio
Photograph courtesy of: The Design Twins
Photograph courtesy of: Pinterest
Photograph courtesy of: Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Rustic Spring Decorating Trend 4: House Plants
Indoor gardening hasn’t been so popular since the 1970’s. There has been increasing evidence that points to the health benefits of indoor plants. Not only are they good for your physical and mental health, but they can also help you relax. Beautiful blooms stimulate the release of adrenaline, which in turn helps your energy levels with a rise in oxygen flow to your brain. Plants such as Boston Ferns are also natural humidifiers as they release moisture into the air. They also clean the air. NASA scientists found English Ivy is the number one air-filtering houseplant.
Climbing plants have become incredibly popular on Pinterest according to Elle Magazines Top Design Trends.
It’s easy to create an indoor garden by using pots of varying sizes and shapes. Add interest to a tabletop by grouping mix-and-match pots filled with plants of different sizes. You can also add personality to the house by adding hanging planters and plant stands.
Easy Ways to Update Your Home for Spring
Country Living Magazine asked designers how they refresh their homes for Spring – and here a few of my favorite suggestions:
- Update your pillows. “While fabrics such as velvet, silk, and even tweed are beautiful year-round, they can feel a bit heavy for the spring and summer months. It’s easy to give your home frequent updates by having a “pillow wardrobe” for various seasons, just like you do for your clothing. Spring is a great time of year to bring in pillows in breezy fabrics like linen or printed cotton to lighten things up a bit.” —Paloma Contreras
- Refresh your bedding. “Welcome spring and treat yourself! Pick up a new duvet and shams to brighten up your bedroom. This easy fix not only brings color to your room but can help motivate you to make your bed each and every day!” —Ryan White
- Use foliage. “I like to freshen things up when springtime rolls around with big statement leaves in fun vases. From banana leaves and philodendron leaves, to palms and papyrus, it’s an easy and low-maintenance way to add a freshness to a room without any fuss. And if you regularly refresh the water and trim the bottom of the stem, the leaves can live on for months.” —Justina Blakeney
- Add some color. “Colorful accessories are always an easy update for spring. Affordable vases, interesting objects, and colorful books brighten any coffee table or entry console in minutes. Bold agate accents, gold-leaf pieces, and fashion books are my favorites when accessorizing my own home.” —Abbe Fenimore
- Keep it simple. “Spring is a time when we all want the freshness of the outdoors to be reflected in ourselves and our interiors. Renewal doesn’t mean you have to change everything in your home. Send out area rugs for spring cleaning and try having bare floors for a time. Remove your usual accessories for a while and have only simple fresh spring branches and some lovely green plants adorning your home. You’ll feel like you are being reborn along with the natural world.” —Young Huh
- Bring in new scents. “Change your candles for a fresh breezy laundry scent or something citrusy. I always keep my Buckingham Interiors + Design Showroom stocked with wonderful seasonal scents.” —Julia Buckingham
- Add a new statement piece. “Refreshing a room for spring can be quite easy. Subtle changes such as introducing a playful light fixture or buying a piece of art are simple and can instantly rejuvenate a space.” —Sara Story
Courtesy of Country Living Magazine
Pantone Color of the Year 2021
A marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.
For over 20, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development not only in fashion but in home furnishings as well. This year they chose a sunny yellow and warm grey shade. Both are perfect for incorporating into a Spring refresh in the home.
These shades were chosen as they felt that people are looking for ways to fortify themselves with energy, clarity, and hope.
“PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power. PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation. The colors of pebbles on the beach and natural elements whose weathered appearance highlights an ability to stand the test of time, Ultimate Gray quietly assures, encouraging feelings of composure, steadiness, and resilience.”
3 Rustic Interior Design Trends for 2021
1. Rustic Vogue – A Sophisticated Take on Cottagecore
Photo courtesy of: Homes & Gardens
This beautiful spring dining room is perfect for those who love their modern home comforters, but want to inject some character details into their living spaces.
2. Cottagecore
Photo courtesy of: Homes & Gardens
Instagram influencer and blogger Paula Sutton of Hill House Vintage believes that due to the events of 2020, Cottagecore, nostalgia and the need for comfort are here to stay.
‘Cottagecore is something that started off as very simplistic but I think it can also be mixed with touches of glamour to create a luxe traditional style. Elegant vintage style barware, gilded cutlery and statement gold accessories are all ways to get the look whilst staying on budget and touches of British quirk will keep the look feeling grounded.’ – Paula Sutton
3. Contemporary Country
Photo courtesy of: Homes & Gardens
Contemporary country includes warm amber tones, mellow meadow prints and beautiful embroidery. Mix and match natural textures for a cozy and inviting look that lift both the home and spirit.
VIEW RECENT POSTS
Ranch Style House Home Tour
This stunning ranch style house is perched high on a hilltop and nestled among the trees claiming its rightful place on a scenic 200-acre property in Texas. The owner desired an ample yet understated home with natural and simple architectural expression that would blend effortlessly into the landscape that surrounds it. Heavy timber columns and stone walls ground the home to the site. Reclaimed siding and simple barn-like structures give the architecture a sense of history and regional belonging. Referencing the owner’s love of the old west, many of the interior walls showcase the same stone and wood that is on the exterior of the home. This gesture alludes to a time when materials were not mass produced but simply gathered from the area and formed as needed.
Beautiful Country Homes Tour
This post features tours of beautiful country homes designed by Beth Webb, an internationally recognized interior designer admired for her tactile, serene, and dynamic spaces. Beth believes beauty only works if it is calibrated by ease, and that elegance is rooted in simplicity. “Texture is my color palette,” says Beth, who uses a variety of materials and objects to create interest in a room. She mingles sinuous profiles with hard lines, juxtaposing masculine and feminine silhouettes to create compelling, sensual spaces. Layered light is another crucial element bringing a sense of warmth, romance and contentment to Beth’s interiors.
Atlanta Traditional Country Home
Today we begin a tour of a stunning Atlanta home where the pallet was inspired by the home owner’s (Jane Hight) vast collection of blue-and-white Imari porcelain inherited from her mother and grandmother. Having served as the accountant for interior designer Lauren DeLoach for several years, it was natural for Hight to enlist the designer’s help when decorating her home. When it came to a color palette, the pair looked no further than Hight’s beloved family porcelain. “While we knew we would use blue, finding the right shade took some study,” says DeLoach. “We didn’t want a too-saturated hue, but we didn’t want it too pale. We also needed another color to add punctuation marks here and there, so the salmon hue came from the Imari porcelain.”
Country Home Tour
The small and compact English-style country home is 1,400-square-feet and situated on a sweeping pasture across from the Inn at Brays Island in South Carolina. The owners hired Interior Designer, Beth Webb to create a pastoral blend of Anglo and Low Country traditions. “It’s interesting how a house this tiny can be so INCREDIBLY LIVABLE. Inside, all that extreme verticality means the rooms feel neither contained or compressed. Plus the house has a beautiful orientation on the property, so there’s a lovely dappling of light morning, afternoon, and evening. We took advantage of this as much as possible, especially in the galley kitchen, which we designed as kind of a non-kitchen kitchen, a space that looks more like a sun-splashed garden room with that huge window.”
White Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
Kitchen cabinets come in a wide variety of colors, with white being one of the most popular choices. One of the main benefits of white kitchens is that they never go out of style, they coordinate with everything and create natural light reflection. White kitchen cabinets are timeless and the perfect choice for those who want to create a blank canvas and plant to add interest with flooring, window treatments, artwork, and area rugs. White cabinets can instantly brighten a kitchen and provide the illusion of more space. To avoid creating a kitchen that feels cold, consider adding a splash of color or texture, and mixing white cabinets with contrasting countertops or backsplashes.
Cream Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
Cream kitchen cabinets have increasingly grown in popularity over the past few years – and for good reason! Cream is warmer than white and lends a timeless and luxurious look to a kitchen design. Cream-colored cabinets work in many different design styles, from modern to rustic, traditional, country, and farmhouse. They also are available in a wide variety of cabinet styles including shaker, recessed, and raised panel. Cream is a soft hue that is as timeless as white or gray but warmer, making it easier on the eyes and helping to make any space feel less clinical. It also pairs effortlessly with any accent color or material, from brass finishes to dark woods.
Modern Farmhouse Home Tour
Sean Anderson Marries Rough & Refined in a Vestavia Hills Residence: This modern farmhouse home tour is the work of Sean Anderson Design who grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi. Anderson’s home in Memphis, where he runs a burgeoning interior design firm, is moody, cerebral, and compact. It took many years for him to discover what his form of artistic expression would be and after dropping out of college he worked as a bartender, a janitor, and a house painter for most of his 20s. It was in his early thirties that he made the decision to give his passion for design a shot.
Modern Farmhouse Home Offices
Whether you are working from home in the country, or just want to infuse a bit of farmhouse vibe into your existing space, here are a few farmhouse home office decorating ideas with stunning images. The farmhouse style is all about keeping things simple, organic and bringing in elements of nature. A well-designed home office increases productivity and happiness. Modern farmhouse style evokes warmth, comfort and is cozy without being cluttered. Common design elements include reclaimed wood, wrought iron accents, barnboard details, wide wood plank floors and vintage accessories. Modern farmhouse home offices provide the opportunity to bring in a variety of textures, layer mixed metals and add a few well-placed accessories for added character.
Modern Farmhouse Bathroom Ideas
A well-designed modern farmhouse bathroom adds charm and sophistication to your oasis, while providing the perfect spot to start your day and unwind in the evening. Farmhouse-style emphasizes practicality and simplicity with a touch of rustic charm. A few elements of a farmhouse bathroom are wood floors, free-standing tubs, farmhouse sinks, wood ceiling beams, shiplap wall panelling and traditional style faucets in aged brass or copper. Although farmhouse design typically lends itself to a neutral palette, a modern farmhouse bathroom is the perfect spot to add either a bold splash or subtle hint of color.
Sources
Pantone Color of the Year, 2021. https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2021
Smith, Lauren. “10 New (and Creative ) Ways to Show off Your Succulents”. March 17, 2017. House Beautiful. http://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g4232/genius-succulent-planters/
Accessed March 20, 2017.
Bandurski, Katie. “ Dreamy Woodland Décor We Love”. Better Homes & Gardens. http://www.bhg.com/decorating/decorating-style/dreamy-woodland-decor-to-try/
Accessed March 20, 2017.
Smith, Lauren. “ 10 Definitive Reasons You Need More Houseplants in Your Life”. Jan 30, 2017. Veranda. http://www.veranda.com/outdoor-garden/g1647/benefits-of-houseplants/
Accessed March 18, 2017.
The Lux Pad. “ Interior Design Trends 2017: Top Tips From The Experts”. Amara. https://www.amara.com/luxpad/interior-design-trends-2017/
Accessed March 20, 2017
Taras, Rebeca. “5 Inspiring (& Easy!) DIY Indoor Gardens” Nov 1, 2013. Refinery 29. http://www.refinery29.com/urban-gardening/
Accessed March 24, 2017
Garden Center Magazine, “7 Trends to Watch in 2017” State of the Industry Trends. “November 16, 2016. http://www.gardencentermag.com/article/7-trends-to-watch-in-2017/
Accessed March 24, 2017
Sitzes, Jenae. “65+ Inspiring Ways to Update Your Porch and Patio”. Country Living. March 22, 2017. http://www.countryliving.com/gardening/garden-ideas/g1336/porch-and-patio-decorating-ideas/ Accessed March 24, 2017
